Lost Memories

So for my Child Development class, I had to make a baby book. We could have made it of ourselves, someone we knew or an imaginary person that we wanted make up. I chose to make one for myself because I recently had gotten a Cricut, which is a scrap booking machine. It cuts out letters that can be glued onto scrap booking paper. I absolutely love it!

Even though my mother had already made me a baby book when I was small, it needed some new revisions. Everything from back then just looked so old to me, so i decided to gloss it up a bit. I was so happy my mom added pictures and such to my original book because otherwise I would have not been able to really do the assignment.

I noticed how lucky I was that my parents had taken pictures of every event that I had been in when I started working on my boyfriends baby book. I decided to start making one for him a few weeks ago. He is a a senior this year and I remember how everyone thought how nice it was that I had a scrapbook of myself at my graduation party. So i figured I could make one for his graduation because boys really don't care about those kinds of things.

As I was going through his baby pictures, I noticed that I hadn't found any from his birthdays or really any holidays. That's when I noticed that he could never relive those memories from when he was a kid. I felt grateful for my parents and everything they had saved for me to remember. I'm glad I do not have any lost memories.

Hocus Pocus

So last night, I had to watch Mitchell because our parents went out of their anniversary. I decided since Halloween is just around the corner, that we could watch a Halloween show. There really wasn't very many Halloween shows on t.v. so we decided to watch Hocus Pocus that we had on DVD. Hocus Pocus has always been my favorite Halloween movie since I was little and I've never gotten sick of it. Mitchell had never seen it so I figured it was a great time for him to see it. We made some popcorn and got some juice and watched the movie together on the big screen downstairs. It was so enjoyable to watch him laugh at everything!

This morning when I had gotten up to get ready for school, he was in the kitchen eating his breakfast. He kept laughing about something and I asked him what he was laughing about. He said that he was laughing at the movie we had watched the night before. I thought it was so great how it could still make him laugh. I can't wait for the next movie night!

Chucke Cheeses

"Where A Kid Can Be A Kid!"

So this week, since I don't have class on Fridays and my brother didn't have school, I took him to Chucke Cheeses. He's been bugging me to go since the summer and I figured that we had nothing better to do, so I would take him. It was a fairly nice day out so there weren't many kids which made things much easier. Mitchell insisted that my boyfriend come with because he thinks of him as his big brother and wants him to come everywhere with us. He also got to invite a friend to go with because I had a coupon for four people so I thought one more couldn't hurt. He ended up inviting our cousin Shannon. She's a year younger than him and enjoys to be around him which is very nice.

We arrived at Chucke's and immediately, Mitch wanted to play the games. But i told him that we needed to order our tokens first because otherwise you can't play the games. We ordered 100 of them so we could each have 25 of them. With all the game playing, we ended up getting a total of 550 tickets, which was amazing. On our last token I ended up winning 60 tickets for getting it into a really hard slot. I don't think I've ever won that many tickets before on just one token. Mitch ended up getting a really cool ball, Shannon had gotten a Kush ball, my boyfriend Drew got a blue slinky and I ended up with a small purple fish. I really didn't want anything because they toys there are so kiddish. Anyway, it was a great day and I can't wait for the next trip. Where ever it may lead us.

Where Did Fall Go?

It's hard to believe that it's supposed to snow so soon. It's not even close to winter, yet the weather is acting like it. It's colder than normal and we're reaching all time lows for this time of the year. It feels as if fall wasn't even here. It went from summer to winter right away. It's ridiculous. I hate that I didn't get to experience fall because it is my favorite season of the year. Don't get me wrong, I like winter too, but sometimes it's a hassle to wipe snow off of my car every morning before going to school or work. I like going sledding and picking out a Christmas tree, but fall is the transition from summer to winter. Fall has such a great feeling. The air is fresher and the leaves change color. We can carve pumpkins and eat tons of food on Thanksgiving. I miss you fall!

Special Fester Day

As we all know, it is Oktoberfest time. What many do not know, is that one special child is picked every year to become the special fester. My brother was the Oktoberfest Special Fester in 2005. I was so proud to see him wave in the parade and make a new family. This years special fester is one of my brothers friends. My family had went to the Special Fester Ball which is when they announce the special fester for that year. Mitchell was excited when he found out that it was his friend Breven. He jumped up off of his seat when he heard Breven's name called. He couldn't wait to congratulate him and give him a hug. It was so wonderful to see Mitch so happy.

This past Tuesday, the Oktoberfest committee always has a day where past special festers have a day for riding the rides and having lunch. Since I didn't have class until later that day, I decided to walk over to the south side fest grounds. When I got there, my brother automatically wanted me to go on the tilt-a-whirl with him. I wanted to try it, but didn't know if I should due to the fact that I had once thrown up after getting off of that certain ride. But I decided to brave it out because I knew it would have made my brother glad. Surprisingly enough, I had actually enjoyed going on the ride. I didn't feel sick at all. Then I had a sudden urge for greasy food. Since my mom had met us there I was glad that I didn't have to pay for the very expensive carny food. After eating a corn dog, some cheese curds and half of a funnel cake, I knew that it was time to go back to school. I didn't want to because I was having such a good time, but I knew I had to. As I was leaving, my brother came up to me, gave me a huge hug and said thanks for the wonderful afternoon. That was the best day of my week. Knowing that I could make his day better, made my day better.

The Route

One night after dinner, I decided to ask Mitchell if he wanted to go for a bike ride with me. I don't know why I wanted to go for one so bad because I haven't ridden a bike in at least a couple of years, but I had the urge to. Thankfully he did want to go with me. Sometimes he gets a bad attitude if I ask him to do something because I'll be dragging him from something else that he is doing, such as his x-box or playing on the computer. So eventually he decided to take the trip with me. He loves riding his bike and being outside, which is a great for a kid his age. As we were coming out of the driveway, he tells me that he was going to take me on his route. I was really surprised that he had a route because he really is not much of a planner.

After we had taken turn after turn, I realize that he was really just taking me in a huge circle. I then mentioned to him that I was going to lead. He really didn't like that idea, but gave it up. On our way home, we had driven past the high school football team practice. As we slowly drove by he said, "Sam, why don't I play football?" At that point in time, I knew that I wouldn't be able to tell him the truth because I didn't want him to think that he was completely different from everyone, even though he was. So all I told him was that he could possibly be the water boy if he asked the coach. Then, at that moment, he had gotten this huge smile on his face and I knew that he knew that he could join a team without being let down or rejected. That day, I learned that the best gift in life is not always one that comes in a box, but one that gives someone hope and confidence to go out and do something they believe in.

Applefest, Here I Come!

Yes, finally, Applefest in La Crescent is here. I am proud to say that I live in the apple capital of Minnesota. This weekend is the weekend that all or most people in La Crescent live for. There are many things that one can do at the fest grounds. There is a carnival, pageants, and my favorite, the parade! On Thursday night, they had apple idol, which is to be like american idol but with kids from La Crescent of course. Then Thursday through Sunday they have the carnival rides that all people can attend. On Saturday and Sunday afternoon, at the elementary school, they arrange a craft and car show for everyone to enjoy. The carnival and shows also include the all so delicious fried foods of the fatty family and each night they have many different bands play music for entertainment. On Saturday night, they have the Miss La Crescent Pageant, where La Crescent High School seniors compete for the title of Miss La Crescent and are able to represent La Crescent for a little less then a year.

Finally on Sunday, they have the Applefest Parade, which has many contestants. There are over thirty bands, twenty-five clubs, and twenty fundraisers. It is one of my most favorite parades around the county. This will be the first year within the last six years that I will be able to watch the parade since I have been in band since eighth grade. So if anyone would like to come and join the festivities of Applefest, feel free to do so. I Hope to see you there!

The Dinner Date

Ever since my thirteen-year old brother was little, my family and I always knew that he was different. He never learned how to tie his shoes until recently and was held back in school because of his learning disabilities. But in the last couple of weeks, I have learned a lot. I recently went to a doctors appointment with my parents to find out exactly what syndrome my brother has. Even though he didn't want to go, we knew that we needed to find out so we could help him in any possible way. Later that week he was diagnosed with Nuenen syndrome, which is a learning and speech disability syndrome. It was hard to take in, but it was also a relief.

Then last week, I was driving him to one of his appointments that was needed for his disability. He was sitting in the back seat when he asked if him and I could go on a "dinner date." I wondered why he would ask that because he never had before. He said that he wanted to go because he loved me and wanted to be like me and my boyfriend when we went out on dates. It was so great how he thought so much about me and I had never even realized it before. I knew that he had always thought so highly of me, but at that second i knew that when I leave home, he'll have a very hard time with it. But for now, it's him and I going to Mc Donalds for a dinner date, watching him try to fit into the play tubes and knowing that whenever I come home, he'll always be there to greet me and give me a hug when I need one.